The hunt began.
The Celestial Dragons announced the rules with the same casual excitement they used for games and banquets, their voices carrying across the terrified island.
The victims were not called people.
They were called rabbits.
There were thirteen "super rare rabbits", each worth ten thousand points.
There were one hundred and fifty "rare rabbits" worth smaller scores.
A one-hit kill granted an excellent bonus.
The Celestial Dragons laughed as the scoring system was explained, some already arguing about who would win before the game had even started.
The champion of the hunt would receive one of the priceless treasures brought to the island.
Around the hunting grounds, small treasure chests had been placed as rewards.
They were said to contain things of unimaginable rarity and value.
Yet the chests themselves had a strange design.
Each one was just large enough to perfectly hold something the size of a Devil Fruit.
But that detail went largely unnoticed in the chaos that followed.
Because the hunt had already begun.
Gunfire echoed across God Valley.
People ran.
Children screamed.
And the Celestial Dragons laughed as they fired into the fleeing crowds without the slightest trace of hesitation. Some competed with each other, calling out their scores as bodies fell.
To them, this was entertainment.
Nothing more.
Through the chaos, Kuma, Ivankov, and Ginny ran together.
Their feet pounded against the earth as they pushed through brush and broken terrain, desperately trying to escape the open fields where the hunters could easily see them.
High above the island, one figure watched them.
Saint Saturn.
Even then, nearly forty years in the past, he looked exactly the same.
Not older.
Not younger.
Exactly the same.
His monstrous presence observed the chaos below like a scientist examining an experiment.
The rules of the hunt were simple.
The "rabbits" were given one hour.
One hour to run.
One hour to hide.
After that—
Two hundred Celestial Dragons would begin the slaughter.
Elsewhere, the situation surrounding God Valley was already spiraling out of control.
Former Fleet Admiral Kong stood among high-ranking Marines, explaining the crisis.
The treasures brought to the island had been supposedly seized from Pirate Island.
By doing so, the World Government had unknowingly kicked a hornet's nest.
The Rocks Pirates were already on their way.
And now another legend was moving as well.
Gol D. Roger.
